Award winning writing

We all know we write for the pure love if it (if you don’t, I’m not sure why you would put yourself through such torture). And because we write for the pure love of it there may be times when we question our sanity and wonder where this whole writing business is heading.

This writing bug has us firmly in its grasp and unless the ideas and words have an outlet and flow from our heads, down our arms and onto the page, we feel as if the build-up will surely cause a massive cranial explosion (MCE – not a pretty sight).

As you may (or may not) know, I have several writing awards under my belt (see my about me page for more info).

I’m certainly not waiting in line for the Booker Prize, but there is a great deal of satisfaction that comes with the thought that ‘someone in the industry’ likes your story. When I was new at this award business one of the judges said of my work, “This is true literature”. At the time I wasn’t sure how to take this, but going into a book store and looking at the Literature section now makes me feel truly humbled.

I haven’t entered my work into any awards for about two years. This is mainly due to the fact that I’ve been too busy to even contemplate it. However, in September this year I found I won the YouWriteOn Book of the Year Award for Soul’s Child (when I didn’t even know I was in the running – that was weird!)

I’ve had several bloggers recently ask me about marketing strategies. Writing for, and entering your work into, awards would have to come very close to the top of my effective marketinglist.

The good thing about awards is that you get noticed by the right people. Publishers and Agents want to know what you’ve achieved with your work instead of knowing whatyou want to achieve. The fact that you’ve already put your work out there and have been judged by your peers and professionals in the industry can give you an advantage over a plethora of other manuscripts sitting on a publisher’s desk.

Now for some Do’s and Don’t’s

Don’t

Competitions and awards shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg. Some of them are free (Amazon Breakthrough Novel award) and some of them only cost a few dollars. The most I would ever pay to enter one of my stories into a competition or award would be about $25.

Make sure it’s an accepted and genuine competition or award. Look at the previous year’s winners and read through Writer Beware before you part with your hard-earned cash.

Never sign anything that gives away all your publishing rights – one-off publishing rights are the norm and perfectly acceptable

Do

Do your research on the competition and don’t be a afraid to email the organisers and ask questions

Read the rules very carefully (if they ask that the manuscript have no staples – don’t staple! They’ll end up throwing your work in the bin because they’ll know you can’t follow a simple instruction).

Look into past winners. Most awards and competitions have past winners and their stories (or part thereof) will be available for you to read.

Make sure you read stories that have won awards so you can see what the judges are looking for. To help you out with this one I’ve written out the first few paragraphs of some of my stories that have won awards. Read through them and ask yourself these questions:

Why would someone like this?

What did the judges see in this?

Why would anyone want to keep reading this?

Why is the beginning SO important?

One day soon I’ll write about how I was forced into started entering my stories into awards.

I only received one award in my life for investigative journalism and the passion that you describe is what got me going. I was so aggravated that the cops in my former town were giving out more parking tickets than moving violations, so I investigated and blew the whistle on them.

It’s so cool that you have so many. How did you feel when you got your very first award?

I was so shocked when I got my first award that I thought for some time they had made a mistake. It was the first short story I’d ever written and I couldn’t understand why anyone would like it that much. Once I realised it wasn’t a mistake I was walking on air for about a year! It’s not the biggest award I’ve won, but it was certainly the one that gave me the biggest buzz 😉

If you enter an award or competition they will ask you for ‘one-off’ publishing rights. This means that if the publisher puts together an anthology you give them the right to publish your story (they get first dibbs). This has happened to me several times. An example of this is when Corrugated Dreaming won the HQ/HarperCollins award, HarperCollins published a book called ‘Enter’ which was an anthology of award winning short stories. They paid me to have my story in their book, but the copyright still belonged to me. I can publish this story myself or with any other publisher (after HarperCollins had published it) because I will always own the rights to it.

Luckily, the advantage of being a Latin American writer is that most literary contests have no entrance fees. They are already happy to accept submissions; whether the judges like your work or not is another matter. Nonetheless, thanks for the tips. I know they will come in handy now that I’ve pubished some material in English.

I’ve never been inclined to enter anything I’ve written in a contest. Stupidly perhaps, I simply want what I offer to be enjoyed by readers (even if they only number in the single digits). I also don’t want to pay for the privilege of being judged. To me, that smacks of paying to be published, another thing I wouldn’t do.

And maybe, if I’m honest, it comes down to not feeling good enough. Thinking my writing just won’t measure up to that of others.

I think if I spend so much time and effort on my writing it’s worth it to get it ‘out there’. The worst thing that can happen is that the judges won’t like it, but then you haven’t really lost anything (after all – it’s only someone’s opinion). But if they do like it, it gives you some satisfaction that maybe the pain has been worth it!
Never undersell yourself, Theo. I’ve read your work and it’s great 😉

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. All of that information is certainly going to help me get off my butt and start looking for the right competitions. At least now I go in with the idea that I can only get a “no” if I actually try. The initial attempt is where I get scared and I’ll never know unless I try. Blogging has really helped with the courage to share my thoughts – and positive feedback from you has helped immensely!! 🙂

I’m really hoping this helps, Susan! Some of the best competitions are the ones that give you feedback (but these cost a little more). Sites like YouWriteOn (free) offer feedback but this is from other authors – but if you get into the top ten you get feedback from publishers which can be very helpful indeed.

You’re so right about trying – the worst thing is that nothing will happen, but if you don’t try you won’t know 😉

Lots of great tips Dianne, but I’m interested to know…. how do your begin writing your books in the first place?! I’m 6 months into my year and STILL haven’t started the book I’m supposed to write. How do you choose an idea? (I have several VERY different ideas running through my head, from a children’s picture book, to a YA novel, to an adult novel, to a “how to” technical manual in my field of expertise!)

I would start writing them all and switching between them, but I’m not sure if this is a good way for you to start (because I’m just weird!)

I think the best thing to do is to sit down one day (when you have plenty of time) and choose one to start with. Take the YA novel (for example) and write down the names of your characters (it can be really hard choosing names). Then give them a personality (love/hates etc). Put them in a situation you wouldn’t want to be in (falling down the steps on The Price is Right) and then try to get them out of their ‘situation’ only to put them in another ‘situation’. It should start rolling from there and the beauty is that you can always go back and change it whenever you want 😉

I’m looking forward to the next post on your first steps intp the world of awards…and if you have any tips on how to get to the point where you get entered for awards without even knowing it and then win…:-)

Hmmm – that was a weird one, Harula. I usually put my new stories on You Write On so I can get feedback from other authors and publishers. I didn’t realise when I did this that they actually look through everyone’s work and judge it for a Book of the Year Award – that’s why I was so surprised when I won! ;).

Great post Di. Hmm makes me curious though and yes I possibly was naive but I entered a comp to place my story in a compilation of stories about becoming a mum for the 1st time. Coincidentally it’s called First Time Mum. It was published by Book Pal copyright Emma Brooks. A copy in the National Library it states. I was paid for the piece, but I don’t know if I am able to use the story again? I receive the Australian Writers Mag and scan the comps in there – but sadly never get around to entering 😦 I am enjoying the blogging realm so much these days as you have probably gathered – so possibly that is all my calling is? (However I shall place a blatant plug if I may) my Memoir The Empty Nest – A Mother’s Hidden Grief – through Amazon and Lulu EPUB was the way to go for me. Oh and feel free to knock back the comment if you don’t want me plugging it 🙂

Very helpful post, Dianne! When I finally finish one of the WIPs, this is something I should look into. Awards always look good on the resume, and we writers shouldn’t forget about that potential marketing outlet.

Looking forward to the next installment, along with the other bloggers! Then maybe I won’t feel like such a wimp at doing such a thing — especially after I’ve read your stories. I don’t think my stories would hold a candle to them.

Dianne, I read all of your samples, and they are brilliant! What was in the hot dog bag? !! I don’t foresee entering any contests, but this is really good information, and I’m bookmarking. Thank you for including the link to your samples. I’m terrible at clicking links around the edges of blogs; you have to put them in front of my face. 🙂

Dianne this is a very helpful post.. I am presently waiting the completion of the encoding of a computer program I developed that has a uniqueness in the world… and when we started I had many hours of spare time on my hands, so I wrote, something I’ve always wanted to do. I started with articles on the internet and then started my blogging of photos.
I also wrote a help manual, statutory help document, I’m actually not sure what you would call it, but it has a limited market here in RSA, I have now sold a few copies and know the sales will pick up, but it is so different from the other two books I started. One, about my travels in the parks of my country with plenty of photos and the other stories of what I’ve seen, and the other is a humours book about what Green Keepers do on Golf Courses and why.. (my professional career ended on a gold course) and so many times Golfers have stopped and asked “what the hell are you doing?” that I thought this would make a good book. It not only gives the humour, but the scientific reason we do the things we do. I am now swamped with program testing, help file writing etc, that the two books now languish on my computer peeping at me every now and then. My problem is I keep getting the feeling I am writing for a limited audience and loose enthusiasm to complete. One stands on 60 000 words and the other on 100 000 and I feel I must at some stage complete and edit them… Is there any way one can send parts of these to someone to find out if they have any potential worth in them?

Absolutely. I’m thinking the humorous book about what Green Keepers do on Golf Courses would stand a good chance. However, I’m not completely certain what the help document is about so I can’t really give you any advice on that. There are many competitions out there, I think Writer’s Digest are having a competition you may be able to enter the Green Keeper book into because they have so many categories (you may have to Google this because I’m not sure when it closes).

The best thing you can do is join a local writers group (like SAWC) who will send you a newsletter every month with every competition going in your area. This gives you a chance to read through the comps and decide which one is right for you. This will save you a lot of time and energy searching fro them on the internet (and the writers groups also filter out the unorthodox ones) 😉

Great advice, Dianne. Lots of things to think about. I enjoyed reading the beginnings of your stories and can see why the judges liked them as they almost kidnap the reader’s attention (in a good way, of course). I’d never really thought about using prize-winning stories as marketing tools, but it makes sense.

One problem I have with ‘some’ award winning stories is that they leave me cold and unmoved. Am I missing something? Perhaps something major? They remind me of the bafflement I experienced when I watched Mulholland Drive …

I usually find this with most ‘major’ book awards (I’m not mentioning names because I don’t want to offend anyone) . It seems the books that are shortlisted are always better than the one that wins – and I’m not sure why. I know I’m not alone with this thought, but I guess the judges see things that maybe we mere mortals miss 😀 If I ever find the answer to this age-old question, I’ll bottle it! 😉

Just wise advise. I once entered a contest in Ireland–thinking to extend my reach–only to find that the entry fee more than doubled when I accounted for international credit card costs. Now I stick to my home town.

Great idea, Jacqui. I try to stick locally because the OS fees can be ridiculous. The international stories I enter are usually very well known and not expensive (like the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award). It also has to be electronic manuscript only because sending books OS is a really expensive business 😯

That is fantastic that you’ve won so many awards, Dianne. It must make you feel so proud to have your hard work recognized. I would love to win an award someday, but first, I have to actually finish something. Someday soon(ish) I will. Thanks for the great tips for entering competitions; it all sounds like really useful advice.

Dianne,
Thank you for this selfless and generous post. Your desire to help others in any way you can is admirable. Like others, I am bookmarking this page for the future. P.S. I love the image of someone falling down the steps at the Price is Right. {{{Hugs}}}

Hahahaha! That’s Amanda and she was on The Price is Right last week. Unfortunately I missed it because I’m in a different state and it wasn’t on at the time they said it would be on (D’oh!) and I was really looking forward to watching it!

How kind of you to share your tips. I entered a couple stories in a Writers Digest competition but haven’t done anything else. Good idea to read past winners to get a feel for the type of story telling they like. Congrats on all the awards you’ve earned!

Thanks, Janna 😉 Judges can be fickle creatures and reading the stories of past winners can give you an idea of what they like (but it doesn’t give you an idea of what they don’t like, unfortunately). 😀

It seems very daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it you seem to lose that ‘there’s no way I can do this’ feeling 😉 The worst that can happen is you never hear from them again and when you read the winning story you think ‘why didn’t I come up with that!’ But you know better next time 😀

I’m not lover of short story writing but pre-blogging I entered a short story competitions, interested in the topics and with a purpose & deadline to get me writing, but I don’t have a competitive bone in my body so it was just for the exercise, and I’m happy to contribute a small fee, as that often makes up the prize money. You made a good point about the rights, often overlooked 🙂

wow, that’s so cool and interesting! i always thought awards came AFTER publication by big-name publishers… i’m still so naive!! haha. congratulations too! to have your work recognised must be such an amazing feeling! 🙂

Great tips! I’ve found that when entering short stories (for general submission or awards) if the publication charges $25 or so for the submission, then the winners usually receive around $500-$1,000. If it costs nothing to submit, then the winner might not receive anything but publication. I stopped submitting to the ones that charge because it started to feel like gambling (as in eventually I’ll get that winning payoff if I just keep submitting)!

The charges can be a bit tricky – but most times it’s to cover costs (and paying readers to go through all submissions). It can get addictive (like gambling) but sooner or later it really does pay off 😉

Yes it does and I was going to add another comment that I am so impressed by your generous spirit… I looked at your about page and, for a literary rock star, you are so approachable and supportive… Be Blessed! TY! 🙂

Dianne, congratulations! What an interesting post. You are such a good writer, it doesn’t surprise me that you have won awards! How nice of you to write about it, and tell writers how to go about it. I guess I’d better get writing so I have something to enter. For some reason I’m intimidated to get started on a project. When I saw how much research you did… Blogging is so much easier right now. Ideas abound. Did you ever use your blog to get you started with a novel? Marsha 🙂 P.S I noticed that after all this time, I have been spelling your name wrong. You have been kind not to point it out! 🙂

I actually didn’t notice the name thing Marsha, so don’t worry about it! 😉

I’ve never used my blog to get me started with a novel, but I have started writing two novels in the past month which is keeping me very busy! Don’t be intimidated – everyone is different and the story you read of mine was probably the only one I thoroughly researched! The others just jumped into my head and onto the page 😀

Writer Beware is fantastic. I always check it when I’m doing anything (particularly if it involves money) when I write. Best of luck with entering comps and feel free to contact me if you have any questions 😀